This application is related to the following applications filed on even date herewith in the name of Trafton et al.:
1. INK CARTRIDGE WITH MEMORY CHIP AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLING;
2. INK CARTRIDGE WITH COLOR DISCRIMINATION STRUCTURE; and
3. INK CARTRIDGE WITH INTERNAL INK BAG AND METHOD OF FILLING.
The present invention relates to ink jet printing systems that make use of replaceable ink cartridges. More particularly, the present invention relates to a replaceable ink cartridge that includes integral alignment features that position the ink cartridge during insertion relative to components intended to interface with the ink cartridge when fully inserted.
With ink jet printers using remotely located ink cartridges comes the ability to increase the volume of the ink cartridge without impacting the ability of the print head carriage to perform its function during the printing process. Typically the mass of the carriage supporting the print heads needs to be reduced so as to minimize the inertial load on it during acceleration. The ink is supplied to the print heads using flexible tubing. The remotely located ink cartridge is usually joined with the printer using a receiver which guides and aligns the ink cartridge to interface components such as an ink access point and electrical contacts.
One such design uses a pin in hole/pin in slot concept to align the ink cartridge to a hollow needle during the insertion process. This concept keeps the locating feature close to the critical interface area to allow for more liberal manufacturing tolerances. This concept requires separate guide pins coupled to the receiver assembly located by holes in the sheet metal or plastic receiver housing thereby increasing the cost of the unit. The guide pins need to be substantially long enough so as to engage the ink cartridge before the hollow needle contacts the ink bag interface feature. Clearances within the ink cartridge are required to avoid puncturing the flexible ink bag contained within the cartridge housing. This necessitates the volume occupied by the ink cartridge to be excessive leading to increased shipping costs associated with manufacturing and distribution.
Another concept includes using tabs protruding from the sides of the ink cartridge that engage a track formed in the sheet metal or plastic receiver housing. The track features are located on the extents of the cartridge, the edges furthest away from the needle assembly and therefore require tight manufacturing tolerances to be applied to the receiver components. The needle to ink bag interface is critical to insure proper engagement of the needle without creating leaks once fully engaged. Moving the alignment features closer to the critical interfaces would be an improvement and allow for less restrictive manufacturing tolerances.
In some designs, the alignment tab or tabs are also used to allow only one specific color to be inserted into a particular receiver. The tab location or number of them is varied from color to color preventing insertion of the wrong color in the wrong receiver. This ads cost to the ink cartridge due to the need to mold unique ink cartridge housings for each color ink.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an ink cartridge with improved alignment structures and an ink cartridge receiving assembly for receiving and aligning ink cartridges in accordance with the novel features set forth in the independent claims appended hereto.
The invention, and its objects and advantages, will become more apparent in the detailed description of the preferred embodiments presented below when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.